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Tennessee is taking steps toward adopting a merit-pay system for teachers by first awarding bonuses to top teachers at five struggling schools in the Nashville area. Tentative plans set a deadline of 2014-15 for all school districts in the state to adopt new pay plans for teachers, which are not based on traditional measures, such as time of service and advanced degrees.

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Massive budget cuts in 2011 have all but eliminated a once revered merit-pay system for teachers in Texas. Just two years ago, almost half of Texas' teachers received bonuses under the merit-pay system, which awarded additional pay based on test scores and student achievement. This year, state lawmakers reduced funding for the program -- from $392 million in the 2010-11 budget to $24 million -- which was converted into the Educator Excellence Innovation Program for low-income schools.

Florida's Board of Education wants the state to approve only digital instructional materials by the 2014-15 school year and for districts to spend half of their textbook funding on digital resources. The board's proposal is included in its legislative package this year, which also seeks more rigorous standards and development of a merit-pay law for teachers.

Florida's Board of Education wants the state to approve only digital instructional materials by the 2014-15 school year, and for districts to spend half of their textbook money on digital resources. The board's proposal is included in its legislative package this year, which also seeks more rigorous standards and development of a merit-pay law for teachers.

As debate continues about the adoption of merit-pay strategies for recruiting, assessing and retaining teachers, the book "Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education" explores an array of issues surrounding performance-based teacher incentives. In one chapter, researchers look at a merit-pay program in Texas where teachers have a say in distributing bonuses, finding that teachers who qualified for bonuses stayed in their jobs more often than others who did not.

As debate continues about the adoption of merit-pay strategies for recruiting, assessing and retaining teachers, the book "Performance Incentives: Their Growing Impact on American K-12 Education" explores an array of issues surrounding performance-based teacher incentives. In one chapter, researchers look at a merit-pay program in Texas where teachers have a say in distributing bonuses, finding that teachers who qualified for bonuses stayed in their jobs more often than others who did not.